The Omitiomire Copper Project lies some 120km north east of Windhoek, in the semi-arid veld of central Namibia. Drilling to date has identified a CIM Measured and Indicated resource of 95.8 million tonnes at 0.59% Total Copper.
Solvent Extraction & Electrowinning (SX-EW) extraction:
The Project, operated by Omico Mining Corp. via its Namibian subsidiary, Craton Mining and Exploration, is undergoing a rigorous metallurgical test work programme which will confirm that the chloride leaching process using salt and sulphuric acid is a viable processing route at scale, and will work with the proposed Solvent Extraction and Electrowinning (SX-EW) method to extract and refine the copper to pure cathode.
SX-EW currently accounts for 20% of worldwide copper production and notably at some of the largest operations globally. A hydrometallurgical process is suited to the conditions of Namibia owing to low water consumption and without the associated environmental impact of conventional smelting and recovery, SX-EW operates at ambient temperatures without the requirement for major material inputs, which will reduce capital and operating costs.
Work to date:
The Bankable Feasibility Study for the Project is well underway with anticipated completion by Q4 2023. The process flowsheet has been completed in addition to initial pit and dump designs.
Geotechnical drilling completed thus far indicates a longer life of mine and excellent progress has been made in heap leach and acid supply trade-off studies. A 54-hole Reverse Circulation infill drilling programme has also demonstrated significant intersections to inform the geological and wireframe modelling of the resource.
Omico have now delivered the preliminary mine plan and are facilitating ongoing optimisation of mine plan and ramp-up design.
Community:
Through Craton, Omico are working closely with the community and local stakeholders to ensure that all concerns are addressed in a transparent and positive fashion; while environmental baseline studies are ongoing. The Environmental and Social Impact Assessment methodology applied to the permitting process follows Namibian law, international and national best practice and has been developed using International Finance Corporation (IFC) standards and models.
Contributed by Omico
